


Bake it till you make it

by Ao_no_ookami



Series: The stories of my life [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bad Cooking, Baking, Birthday Cake, Childhood Memories, Cute, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29824854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ao_no_ookami/pseuds/Ao_no_ookami
Summary: Bokuto wants to bake a cake for Kuroo's birthday and asks for Akaashi's help.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Series: The stories of my life [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2200755
Kudos: 17





	Bake it till you make it

Let me preface this by saying Bokuto’s teenage self could not cook and/or bake. He has gotten better with time and is a decent cook nowadays. But during his schooldays, him cooking was a fire hazard, a disaster waiting to happen.

_For example, when Bokuto was 15 he forgot to turn the heat down while cooking rice and also failed to set a timer. This resulted in the rice ending up very burned. On top of that, he put the pot on the wooden kitchen counter which left a scorch mark. But honesty, the new stain nicely complemented the water colour painting made by a 4-year old Bokuto that adorned the kitchen walls. And although his mother had been pissed, his father had found it funny and had persuaded his wife to keep it._

_When Bokuto was 16 he wanted to cook noodles. Therefore, he filled a pot with water and waited for it to boil. Meanwhile he looked something up on his phone, went into a different room and forgot about the water. Getting hungry and wondering why he hadn’t prepared anything to eat yet, he went back into the kitchen only to find the stove turned on with an empty pot on top of it. Confused, Bokuto turned of the stove and looked at the pot. Why had he placed an empty pot the stove? And then it dawned on him. He had been gone for such a long time that the water had already evaporated. His first idea was to fill the pot with cold water. That should cool it down, right? Wrong. As soon as the water touched the pot, it started to sizzle. Not knowing what to do, he tossed the pot out the window in a panic. It landed in a heap of snow. It was dreadfully quiet in the kitchen. Bokuto couldn’t help but laugh at the situation._

Although he should not for the life of him be allowed in a kitchen, he dearly wanted to show his best friend, Kuroo, how much he meant to him by baking him a cake for his birthday. Knowing that trying to bake on his own would most definitely end in disaster, he turned to the only person he knew that could help. Akaashi. Bokuto planned to ask Akaashi for his help after practice. But being perceptive as ever, Akaashi beat him to it.

“Bokuto-san, is there something on your mind?”

“Well, Kuroo’s birthday is coming up and I really want to bake him something.”

Akaashi tried hard to keep his face impassive. He had heard about Bokuto’s cooking skills.

“I’ve found this recipe online and I really want to try it out, but it has these weird measurements and I don’t understand the instructions. Urgh, it’s just so difficult. Why has everything got to be so complicated.” Bokuto pouted.

“The more you do something, the easier it gets. It might seem difficult at first, but it’ll get better. I think Kuroo would be delighted if you baked him something.” Akaashi consoled him.

“You think so? Really?”

“Yes”

“It’s still really difficult though. I don’t wanna mess up. Could you… could you help me?” Bokuto asked, almost whispering the question, embarrassment written on his face.

Akaashi was taken aback by that question. Bokuto was headstrong and usually wanted to prove to himself and others that he could do things on his own.

“I’d love to” Akaashi gave him a gentle smile. The setter rarely smiled but when he did, it was breath-taking. Bokuto’s heart skipped a beat.

They decided to meet up the following Sunday at Akaashi’s house. It would be quiet and they could roam freely in the kitchen since his parents would be out of town. Bokuto send him a picture of the recipe and they walked home together.

-

Bokuto couldn’t wait to see Akaashi on Sunday. He woke up super early and was bored out of his mind until it would be time to leave. He couldn’t wait any longer, so he decided to just come over a bit early. A sleepy and disgruntled Akaashi opened the door for him. He was still in his pyjamas and stifled a yawn when he let Bokuto in. His shirt hung off of one shoulder and his hair was tousled, Bokuto thought he looked adorable. Akaashi didn’t even question Bokuto’s early arrival. Instead, he told him to make himself comfortable and play some music. They had a CD player in the living room and Bokuto looked through the CDs while Akaashi was getting ready. Bokuto’s eyes fell on a particular CD he hadn’t seen in a while, the _Romeo and Juliet_ musical.

_He had seen the musical the first time when he was 6 years old. His mum likes plays and musicals and had dragged him with her. It had been a magical experience: the costumes, the music, the stage itself, everything was stunning. But the end had ruined it. Up to this point in his life, 6-year old Bokuto had believed every story had to have a happy ending. He had been sure that Romeo and Julia would wake up and get to live happily ever after. He had been devastated and had cried in the theatre, sobbing about how unfair the story treated the characters and how they deserved so much more._

After some time had passed, he had accepted that not every story has a happy ending and that life is unfair at times. Nevertheless, he loves the stories with happy endings the most. Bokuto had also learned that not many people knew about the existence of said musical. He didn’t have anyone to talk about it, no one – not even Kuroo – knew the songs. That’s why it had taken him aback as well as delighted him to learn that Akaashi knew it. The setter had chuckled at Bokuto’s retelling of his traumatising theatre experience. But Bokuto didn’t mind. He gleefully popped the CD in the CD player while Akaashi gathered all the necessary ingredients. Bokuto’s task was to measure everything while Akaashi read the instructions and preheated the oven.

After mixing the wet ingredients, Akaashi told Bokuto to ad the dry ones while he went to wash his hands. They were jamming to _Herrscher der Welt_ and Akaashi couldn’t remember if he had told Bokuto to add the dry ingredients bit by bit and slowly mix them. His question was answered when he turned around. Bokuto was covered in flour and cocoa powder and Akaashi couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well how was I supposed to know this was gonna happen” he looked equal parts confused and irritated.

“Bokuto-san. Flour and cocoa power are hydrophobic.” More laughter. “You need to add them slowly so that this” he gestured at Bokuto “doesn’t happen”.

“No shit, Sherlock. I know NOW. Thanks for the warning” Bokuto couldn’t even be mad. Akaashi’s laughter was contagious and soon the two of them were sitting on the floor, clutching their sides.

Akaashi finished mixing the ingredients and poured the mixture into cake pans, previously coated in butter and flour – he had seen enough baking shows to know what NOT to do. He put the cake in the oven, set a timer for 40 minutes and gave Bokuto one of his sweatshirts to change into after washing up. When Bokuto returned, his hair still wet and a towel around his shoulders, Akaashi scolded him for not properly drying it. He took matters into his own hands and gently rubbed Bokuto’s hair with the towel under, the latter complaining feebly. When Akaashi removed the towel again, he thought that Bokuto actually looked kind of cute with his hair down.

They spend the day playing cards and video games, watching nature documentaries and decorating the cake. Akaashi had to make sure Bokuto wouldn’t eat the candy before it was placed on the cake, swatting his hands away several times.

-

The following day Bokuto brought the cake with him to school, waited patiently until the school day was over. Akaashi had sternly told him that he was not allowed to skip school to head to Nekoma. Bokuto eventually gave in and decided to head there in the afternoon, reluctantly skipping afternoon practice. He also whined about Akaashi not accompanying him, but Akaashi had made it clear that it was not acceptable that both captain and vice-captain skipped practice. He also assured Bokuto that he’d go to Kuroo’s official birthday party the following week-end. So Bokuto had made his way over to Nekoma by himself and barged into their clubroom, cake in hand and singing happy birthday at the top of his lungs. Kuroo had been more than surprised and couldn’t stop grinning for the rest of the day.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is loosely based around my own life:  
> -I genuinly forgot a pot on the stove once, but I didn't throw it out the window (I ran to the balcony door, almost stumbling over my cats, and threw it out the balcony into the snow)
> 
> -the burned rice story and the Romeo and Juliet story are both true (although I can't remember if I actually cried in the theatre)
> 
> -I also sought out the help of a friend of mine who is AMAZING at baking to help me bake a cake for my best friend which i carefully transported to school and then across Vienna to her school to surprise her (my schoolday ended an hour earlier than hers)


End file.
